Cooney, Elliott among leaders at Hamilton County Speedway

June 26, 2014

WEBSTER CITY - The summer racing season at the Hamilton County Speedway has reached its midpoint, and five of the six race classes enter the second half with tight battles at the top of the points standings.

Article Photos

DFJ photo by Nancy KayserWebster City’s Mark Elliott heads the Modified class at the Hamilton County Speedway entering the second half of the season.

Only the Sport Compact class has a gap larger than 16 points. Fort Dodge driver Danny Sassman Jr., currently enjoys a 36-point lead over Tommy Beekman, also of Fort Dodge. Sassman Jr. sits with 248 points, Beekman has 212 and Manson driver Nick Hogan completes the top three with 206.

Veteran Des Moines Late Model driver Todd Cooney continues to pursue 200 career victories, but in the meantime he'll settle for the top of the standings at the historic half-mile. His 279 points is two better than Webster City's Ryan Griffith (277) and 10 in front of Story City's Jeremy Grady (269).

Fellow Webster City wheelman Jason Hahne is still in contention as well; he is currently in fourth with 266.

Fact Box

Points Standings

Hamilton County Speedway

Webster City

Late Model

DriverCar#Hometown Points

1. Todd Cooney30Des Moines279

2. Ryan Griffith15XWebster City277

3. Jeremy Grady43Story City269

4. Jason Hahne76Webster City266

5. Darrell DeFrance99DMarshalltown259

6. Curt Schroeder15CAmes245

7. Paul Conrad23Colo230

8. Bill Crimmins35Fort Dodge206

8. Curtis Grover32Des Moines206

10. Gabe Umbarger91Garner188

Modified

DriverCar#Hometown Points

1. Mark Elliott12Webster City264

2. Nick Roberts23JRDes Moines249

3. Scott Olson8XBlairsburg243

4. Greg Elliott47Webster City240

5. Devon Havlik5DIowa Falls229

6. Coty Albers02AWellsburg197

7. Adam Larson2LAnkeny194

8. Scott Williams64Steamboat Rock191

9. Brandon Leeman64ZCRoland185

10. Chase Ellingson14EIowa Falls165

Stock Car

DriverCar#Hometown Points

1. Lance Deal22XFort Dodge261

2. John Campbell7JBelmond245

3. Jim MitchellM5Webster City236

4. Steve Meyer94Grundy Center229

5. Vince Lowen59LHubbard216

6. Terry Cornelison556Boone202

7. Matt Ring58Dows200

8. Jeff Deal22Fort Dodge187

9. Travis Prochaska21TIowa Falls182

10. Jason Minnehan7Churdan176

Sport Mod

DriverCar#Hometown Points

1. Carter VanDenberg7Oskaloosa254

2. Jared VanDeest80JHolland252

3. Matt Lettow21LRoland232

4. Shawn Albers22AWellsburg228

5. Ty Griffith56Webster City219

6. Brandon Toftee85TWebster City198

7. Jerid Ratzke2Williams196

7. George Gilliland40Lehigh196

9. Bob Sutherland4ORDBlairsburg187

10. Aaron Benson24Clear Lake185

Hobby Stock

DriverCar#Hometown Points

1. Randy Embrey40Granger263

2. Myles Michehl21Fort Dodge252

3. Craig Graham13GWebster City252

4. Danny Ayers4DWebster City233

5. Ruben Stanbrough7KAredale221

6. Matt Mundt25MCalendar216

7. Jeff Lyon59Duncombe199

8. Wade Gilliland21WFort Dodge186

9. Nate Bonin51Iowa Falls182

10. Corey Roe8RWebster City178

Sport Compact

DriverCar#Hometown Points

1. Danny Sassman Jr.10Fort Dodge248

2. Tommy Beekman3TFort Dodge212

3. Nick Hogan20TPManson206

4. MacKenzie OberhelmanM13Fort Dodge198

5. Matt Oberhelman13Fort Dodge173

6. Nick Weiss713Otho147

7. Bryce Summers7CEagle Grove136

8. Kalan Guthrie50KOtho129

Longtime Webster City driver Mark Elliott tops the Modified leaderboard with 264 points. Nick Roberts of Des Moines is second with 249, followed by Scott Olson of Blairsburg (243) and Greg Elliott of Webster City (240).

Lance Deal of Fort Dodge has stormed out to a 16-point edge in the Stock Car class. Deal has piled up 261 points; John Campbell of Belmond (245) and Jim Mitchell of Webster City (236) are second and third.

Carter VanDenberg, the youngster out of Oskaloosa with a bright future, is currently in line for the Sport Mod track championship, but it will be close all season. He owns 254 points, but he's just two points clear of the hard-charging Jared VanDeest of Holland (252).

Randy Embrey of Granger, another veteran who has raced at the Hamilton County Speedway for years, leads the Hobby Stock division. He has 263 points - 11 more than Myles Michehl of Fort Dodge and Craig Graham of Webster City (both 252).

Racing will resume at the local track this Saturday. As always, hot laps will kick off the festivities, followed by racing action.